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Sometimes the decadence of your meals kind of catches up with your body, and you feel in need of a royal cleanse for your digestive system. Here’s how a detox diet can help:

get rid of bloating, gas, constipation, heartburn, acid reflux

clear up acne

do a quick fat flush to lose a few pounds fast

give your kidney and colon some TLC

boost energy and stop chronic fatigue

What is a detox diet?

A detox diet is basically restoring your organs to their optimal health through food. This is accomplished by eating whole ingredients that are filled with the nutrients that your body needs, while cutting out the ones that are harming your body.

Essentially, you’re giving your body the chance to flush out the toxins that have built up. While this is called a diet, the effects can be felt not only physically, but emotionally and mentally as well.

Heads up: Most Americans have pretty bad eating habits, so when your body tries to purge all the toxins at once during a detox, you’ll probably feel kind of crappy. More specifically, you’re likely to experience tiredness, lack of energy, food cravings, and crankiness. Afterwards, though, most detox fans report feeling “cleaner” and healthier.

There are different variations to detoxing your body, but one of the easiest ones to follow is a 3-day detox smoothie challenge. Here’s the basics of what you should be doing each day:

Drink 3 healthy smoothies with a good mix of fruits, veggies, and other cleansing ingredients

Hydrate with a gallon of water

Refrain from processed foods (like sugar, white flour, etc.)

Snack on as many fruits and veggies as you want

TIP: Some people say that smoothies don’t make them feel full. Consider switching up a smoothie drink with a more substantial smoothie bowl or adding some plain, unsweetened yogurt or Greek yogurt (if you’re okay with it in your detox diet) as an in-between snack to help you feel more satiated.

Do detox smoothies help lose weight?

Yes, detox smoothies can help you lose weight. These drinks are meant to flush your body of toxins because you are replacing processed foods with wholesome ingredients like fruits, veggies, and other ingredients that help restore your organs to a better state.

Detox smoothies tend to be high in:

vitamins

antioxidants

fiber

and other nutrients.

These help to reset your body and metabolism, especially after you’ve had a stint of indulgent dining, such as around the holidays or while on vacation.

How do you detox your body to lose weight?

According to Trifecta Nutrition, the main keys to a successful detox of your body, which usually results in some weight loss, are to:

Get your doctor’s approval. As with any dietary change, run it by your doctor to get his or her okay before you start to make sure it’s safe for your health.

Control your calories. You must take in fewer calories than what you normally eat if you want to shed pounds. Generally, the healthy ingredients of these detox smoothies tend to make them lower in calories than what you probably eat on the regular, but if you find that you are not losing weight, then you may want to check on your portions. We’re not saying you have to do strict calorie counts, but you need to make sure you’re actually putting less calories into your body.

Choose best quality foods. Fresh, organic fruits and vegetables are favored over more processed forms of prepared food like canned. Frozen fruits are fine, since they are manipulated very little and flash frozen at the peak of their nutritional value.

Stay away from processed foods. Refined sugars are not doing your body any favors. Foods like white bread and white rice are heavily stripped and not as healthy for you as whole grain products.

Relax. Get plenty of rest. Sleep and less stress are very complementary to a healthy diet. Give your body the tools and time it needs to repair and rejuvenate itself.

Stay hydrated. Drinking water not only keeps you feeling fuller longer, your body needs it. After all, you are made up of more than 70% water!

Adapt this to your situation. Make adjustments that fit your preferences or needs if it’ll help you stay on track. If you’re getting tired of a particular ingredient, consider swapping it out for a like kind so you don’t become miserable with the diet. Or if you have friends visiting in the middle of your detox plan, it’s okay to have that one cheat meal and then jump right back into the detox diet without beating yourself up over it. That being said, don’t let this be an excuse to waiver at every opportunity; give it your best effort.

Make this a lifestyle change. Doing a detox for a few days and jumping right back to your old eating habits is not going to truly help in the long run. Try to ease up on eating the things that are not healthy for you after you’ve completed your detox, incorporating more natural ingredients into your diet. That doesn’t mean you can never have a pizza or dessert again, but try to tip your diet scales towards healthy living by making healthy meals and ingredients the mainstay.

Thank you!

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